Electrode holder



Nov. 3, 1936. .1. cHuRcHwARD 2,059,438

ELECTRODE HOLDER -F11ed sept 11, 1955 Patented Novit-2125,: 1536 i y I UNITED STATES ,PATENT OFFICE 2,059,438 v l ELEC'monE nomma JackfChurchward, lNew Haven, Conn., assigner to The Churchward Engineering Company, Inc.,`

New Haven, Conn., a corporation oi' Connecticut R E I S D Application vseptember 11, 1935,"serla1Nd 40,047 6 claims. (ol. 21o-s) This invention relates to electrode holders and holder embodying my improvements; more particularly to an electrode holder for use Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; in are welding or the like in which the blade or Fig. 3A is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 1 jaw portions of the holder are detachable from shown partly in section and showing the parts 5 the base or handle portion. prior tothe assembly thereof; and 5l In my prior Patent No. 1,973,701 I have shownl g Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the an electrode holder of a somewhat similar type in parts in assembled'relation. which the blade or jaw portions of the holder are To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my inprovided upon their ends, which are attached to vention I have shown an electrode holder comthe handle, with half-round threaded portions prising a pair of blades or jaws I0 and I I which 10 designed to be screwed into a cylindrical internalare generally flat in Shape for the greater part 0f ly threaded socket member. It has been found their-lengths but which are provided adjacent. that in some instances when the holder is in use, their rear ends with half-roundl portions I2 and the handle will become heated, due probably to i3 threaded eXternally- It Will he nnderStOOd the lack of a good tight contact between the that these half-round portions are complemen- 15 socket and the threaded ends of the jaw members. tary to each other, S0 that if placed together It has been found that this heating can be prewith their nat surfaces abutting they will form a vented by so forming the handle-members that substantially cylindrical externally threaded there will be outward pressure Vupon the halfbody.

20 round portions at the rear end, tending to forc l `The blades or jaws I0 and II are designed to 40 socket. be inserted.

the threaded surfaces of the handle members into receive land Clamp an eleetrede therebetween and close contact with the wall of the socket and thus are preferably made of Steely 0r Some Similar maprovide a better electrical contact than can be terial in Order that they may have a Suitable obtained by the ordinary threaded engagement. aniOllnt vof Spring 01' resiliency betWeen them S0 One object of the invention, therefore, is the that they Will clamp dOWn upon the electrode 25 provision of an electrode holder wherein the after they have been Dread apart and the elecblades will be secured in tight contact with the trede inserted. f base or handle member from which current is This spreading 'may be readily accomplisheddelivered to the blades, by means of a stirrup member Ithaving a pore so Another object of the invention ls the provitien I5 inserted between the iawswhich may be 30 sion of an electrode holder such that the currentrecessed, as shown at le, vfor this purpose, and carrying member will be secured to the blades in the Stirilip member i4 iS provided with a. rigidly a manner to prevent the generation of heat. attached operating member I1 designed to. ex-

Astill further object of the invention ls the prov tend rearwardly over the handle of the tool, f v vision of an electrode holder having a pair of .Where it may Conveniently be manipulated by 35 blades or jaws secured to a socket member, the the Operation It AWill be apparent that if the blades being so formed at the socket connecting member I1 is moved downwardly from the pesiends that they will be urged outwardly at all tion shown in Fig. 1, the blades will be spread times into tight contact with the wall of the lapart by the part i5 and theeleetrede may then e 40 Still another object of the invention is the pro A guard il 0f insulating material may be vision of an electrode holder-having a pair of simislipped over the rear ends of the blade members larly formed jaws with half-round threaded surto lodge against the shoulders I9 thereon, this faces upon their rear ends and an internally guard being provided with a cutout or recessed `threaded socket to receive said half-round ends, portion 20 within which the member I'I may bel 45 and the blades being so formed that they diverge moved. outwardly from the rear ends thereof, whereby The half-round threaded portions I2 and I3 the threaded ends are forced outwardly by the are received in an internally threaded socket 2I resiliency of the blades into tight contact with of a base or connector member 22, the latter bethe wall of the socket. ing made of conducting material and designed to 50 nTo these and other ends, the invention consists vhave a current lead connected thereto in any suitln the novel features and combinations of parts vable manner so that current will be conducted to be hereinafter described and claimed'. from this lead to the jaws. A cylindrical guard In the drawing: or handle member 23 may be slipped over the con- Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an electrode nector member 22 and secured thereto by means 55 of the screw 2|. This guard may preferably be made of fiber or of other suitable insulating material so that the operator will be protected from the current passing through the member 22.

It has already been stated that the jaws I0 and I I may be formed of steel or similar material and that these jaws possess a certain amount of inherent spring or resiliency, such as by tempering or the like, so that they tend to return to their normal positions when moved therefrom. It is particularly desirable in order to prevent the generation of heat in the socket 2i to provide a close, tight contact between the rear ends of the jaw member and the wall of the socket. This is accomplished in the present structure by the means which will now be described.

As originally made, the jaws, as shown in Fig. 3, are bowed outwardly to some extent adjacent their central portions so that, as shown in this gure, if they are placed in abutting relation at both ends, the central portions thereof adjacent the stirrup I4 will be spaced apart. The effect of this shaping of the jaws will be to cause the half-round threaded portions at the connected ends of the jaws to diverge or spread apart from their rear ends forwardly, so that while these threaded half-round portions together form a cylindrical portion at their extreme rear ends, as shown in Fig. 3, they are sprung apart so that the distance between the' threaded surfaces at a distance from the ends is considerably greater in one direction than in the other. This, of course, is the condition existing prior to the insertion of the jaws Within the socket 2|.

When the socket 2| is screwed upon the jaws, it is screwed thereon with considerable effort, as by a wrench having a sufficiently long handle to give substantial leverage. This forces the diverging half-round portions together, as shown in Fig. 4, so that while it is necessary to use considerable force, nevertheless the socketed member 22 may be forced upon the threaded jaw bases I2 and IQ for substantially their entire length.

When the tool has been assembled, as shown in Fig. 4, while the half-round threaded portions of the jaws will lie substantially flat upon each other, the blade portions of the jaws will still be bowed to some extent due to their initial shape and also due to the presence of the stirrup member I4 therebetween. The jaws will, however, be urged apart due to their inherent spring or resiliency and thus the half-round threaded portions will be forced into tight contact with the Iwall of the socket and will always be inaintained in this position. This provides a good electrical contact between the threaded ends of thel jaws and the socket member and effectually prevents the generation of heat at this point.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An electrode holder comprising a pair of substantially identical jaw members, each of said members having a relatively fiat blade portion and a half-round threaded portion, said halfround threaded portions being disposed with their fiat surfaces together whereby they form a split threaded plug, and a socket member having an internally threaded socket to receive said plug, said jaw members being inherently resilient and being bowed at their intermediate portions whereby said portions are in spaced relation when their ends are in contact, and the threaded surfaces taper toward the ends thereof so that when surfaces are received in said socket they will be urged into tight contact with the wall of the socket by the inherent resiliency of the jaw members.

2. An electrode holder comprising a pair of substantially identical jaw members having bladelike portions with complementary half-round threaded portions at the rear of said blade portions, a socket member having a threaded socket to receive said threaded portions, said jaw members being oppositely bowed at their central por tions whereby such portions are spaced apart when their ends are in contact, and the fiat sides of the half-round portions diverge from a point adjacent the ends of the jaws, and said socket member forcing said fiat sides toward each other when the threaded portions of the blade members are received therein.

3. An electrode holder comprising a pair of jaw members, said members consisting of relatively flat blade portions in opposed relation and half-round complementary threaded portions at the rear ends of the blade portions, a socket member to receive the threaded portions of the jaws, and said jaws being so shaped as originally formed as to diverge from the rear ends of the threaded portions thereof and possessing inherent resiliency whereby when said threaded ends are forced into the socket, the surfaces thereof will be urged by the inherent resiliency into tight contact with the wall of the socket.

4. An electrode holder comprising a. pair of jaws having blade-like portions with complementary threaded portions at their rear ends, said jaw members being inherently resilient and being so shaped as to be spaced apart at their central portions when their ends are in contact, an internally threaded socket member in which the threaded ends of the jaws are received, and said socket member forcing said ends together when the latter are received therein, whereby said ends are urged into tight contact with the wall of the socket by the inherent resiliency of the jaws.

5. An electrode holder comprising a conducting base member having a screw-threaded socket and a pair of electrode jaws having separate portions together forming a substantially cylindrical plug and threaded to be received in said socket, the threaded portion of said jaws being resilient, and the contacting surfaces of said portions dlverging from the rear ends thereof, whereby the threaded surfaces will be forced into tight contact when received within the socket.

6. An electrode holder comprising a electrode jaws each having a ed portion at one end, an socket member to receive said portions, and said pair of half-round threadjaws being so formed that the abutting surfaces of said half-round portions diverge from the rear end thereof and being of resilient material whereby the threaded portions of the jaws will be forced into tight contact with the wall of the socket when the latter is forcibly threaded upon said portions.

` JACK CHURCHWARD.

internally threaded 

